Tying it all together-Sight Words and Real Reading

As mentioned in my first post, sight word knowledge is an essential component of reading success.  It is imperative that teachers and parents use real books as they teach children how to read.  Isolating one skill can help with a child's weak areas, but it takes real reading to improve fluency and comprehension.  I always tell parents to read TO their children and WITH their children. 

One wonderful website I am fortunate to have for my students is www.raz-kids.com.   This website offers leveled books that children can listen to, read themselves, and answer comprehension questions.  The students move up to the next level as they complete a designated number of tasks.  There is also a "space theme," and students are allowed to spend "stars" they have earned to decorate their spaceships.  In the past, parents have said how much they like this website because they have access to it at home.  Students may also listen to books more than once, which is a great way to increase sight word knowledge and fluency.

An example of text and illustrations

A child's spaceship which he/she can customize

There is a fee to be a member of "Raz-kids.com," but Henry County Public Schools has purchased a subscription to this website for the past 7 years.  It has proven to be successful for my students, and I hope to continue to use it for years to come.

Click on the image to discover "Raz-kids.com."

Using Twitter for Sight Word Ideas

As I was developing ideas for the posts in this "Sight Word" blog, I really did not think I would be posting the suggestion to search on "Twitter" for ideas.  Then I tried it myself just to see what I would find.  There are indeed LOTS of good sight word ideas available on Twitter.  I knew that one could search #edchat for educational ideas overall, but now I realize you can be specific in your search.  (So that's what the hash tags are for!)

As a parent myself, I discovered that many of the ideas are developed by parents and not necessarily educators.  That knowledge helps me realize that these are practical, parent-friendly ideas that have been used by real parents and real students.  As with other websites  I have discussed in previous posts, the hardest part about using Twitter is signing up and learning how to use it. 

A parent could use Twitter to search for all components of literacy education:  spelling, comprehension, fluency, and writing.  Other academic areas are available as well, such as math and science.

So visit www.twitter.com and start discovering!

Flashcards for Sight Words

Sometimes technology, specifically WiFi, is not available to us.  Many of the resources I have offered to parents and students to help with sight word acquisition are Internet based.  The below website offers free printables to help with teaching sight words.  Many students respond well to "old-fashioned" flashcards for practice.  Flashcards also provide children with the opportunity to use the words in different ways, such as putting words in alphabetical order, creating sentences, and playing memory games.

Click HERE to view the sight word website.

In addition to sight word flashcards, this website also includes other resources for parents to use in teaching sight words.  There are workbooks available to purchase, sight word puzzles, and lists of words.  Of course, as mentioned in other posts, sight word recall and knowledge is only one component of fluent reading.  However, my experience has been that a solid foundation of sight word knowledge usually corresponds to a good reader.

Free Sight Word Games: ABCya.com

A colleague just sent me information about this website.  Called "ABCya!," this website offers a variety of free educational games for children.  There are games for grades K through 5 in both reading and math.  Click on the image below to visit the website.

 There are two games specifically made to practice sight words.

One game is sight word bingo.  Students and parents can choose the Dolch word list that they are working on and play!  Click on the images below to go directly to the bingo game.

Another sight word game is "Hop Kitten."  This game can actually be played along with other users and allows the student to hop along a path of sight words.  Click on the images below to go directly to the game.

These games are also available as apps for the iPad.